Flowers of Bali

Balinese name: Tunjung
Indonesian name: Tunjung, Teratai
Latin name: Nelumbium nelumbo
Family: Nymphaeaceae

The Lotus is an important plant in Buddhist and Hindu symbolism. Most parts of the Lotus plant are either edible or used for medicine. In Bali, Lotus and Water Lilies are often seen growing together in hotel ponds. The Balinese use the same name to refer to both, although the two are quite different plants.

Description
This aquatic plant produces long stalks, about 1 meter high, which bear its leaves and flowers. The stalks grow from a rhizome which lies deeply buried in the mud in pools and lakes.

Flowers
Produced at the end of solitary stalks and have between 16 and 19 petals. The newly-opened flower is magenta, but when opened for a time, the tips turn purple, shading to a pale lavender - almost white - at the base. Petals are concave and tear-drop shaped, about 11 cm long and 5 cm wide, pointed at the tip. The pistil is an inverted cone, about 3 cm in diameter and 3.5 cm high, its stigma flat, with circle of dots around the edge. It looks much like a salt shaker. Dozens of stamens radiate, bristle-like, from the base of the pistil. Each is about 3 cm long, white at the bottom and yellow toward the tip. The 20-25 cm blossoms stay open only a short time. Once the petals drop, the large conical ovary is left at the end of the long stalk.

Leaves
Large, round, and borne in the air.

Seeds
Contained in the mature seed pod which is the hardened and enlarged conical ovary. The seed pod is brown, 6 cm high and 7 cm in diameter.

Balinese name: Tengguli
Indonesian name: Tengguli
Latin name: Cassia fistula
Family: Leguminosae

The Balinese, who call the Indian Laburnum is Tengguli, do not make us of the pulp of the tree's pods although it is used in many parts of the world as a laxative. The wood is occasionally used for carvings but craftsmen say it is very hard and dulls their tools quickly. The flowers are used in offerings and the leaves are used to artificially ripen fruit. This procedure involves sealing fruit along with Tengguli leaves in a large clay pot. A smoldering coconut-shell fire is kept burning on top of this pot for a day or two until the moist heat inside matures the fruit.

Description
A tall tree distinguished by its beautiful shower of golden flowers.

Flowers
In a 35 cm truss with mature blooms near the base and spherical buds at the tip. Each flower is about 4,5 cm in diameter with five yellow petals. A green pistil curls prominently from the bloom. There are 10 yellow stamens and ten anthers.

Leaves
Medium to dark green leaflets in pairs along the stems; each is 12 by 7 cm and comes to a point.

Seeds
In long, cylindrical pods, up to 60 cm long, green when immature but dry and brown when ripe. The flat seeds are embedded an a dark brown pulp with a faintly sweet taste.

Flowering
The beginning of the rainy season, in October or November.

Balinese name: Soka
Indonesian name: Soka, Kembang Asoka, Asoka, Angsoka
Latin name: Ixora javanica
Family: Rubiaceae

A Javanese Ixora is a common garden plant in Bali, and its flowers are often used in offerings. There are many in hotel gardens because they bloom all year. The Indian origin of the plant is indicated by its Indonesian and Balinese names, which make reference to Asoka, the first king of India to embrace Buddhism.

Description
A medium to tall shrub that bears large, almost hemispherical clusters of flowers at the ends of its branches.

Flowers
Each clusters may have has many s 60 flowers. These are usually a uniform red or orange-red although there is a so-called white variety which is actually a very pale yellow. The individual flower is small and has four spear-shaped petals, each about 1.4 cm long. These petals lie flat and are attached to a tube about 3 cm long and only 1 mm across. The buds look like match-sticks.

Leaves
Oval, about 9 by 4 cm; older leaves may be quite a bit larger. They are medium to light green and somewhat glossy.

Balinese name: Pucuk
Indonesian name: Kembang Sepatu
Latin name: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.
Family: Malvaceae

The Indonesian name for the Hibiscus means "shoe flower". This apparently comes from the Potuguese, who used the juice of the petals to blacken shoes. There are double and single varieties. The Hibiscus is to be found everywhere in Bali - in hotel gardens, along country roads, in gardens, and behind men's ears. It is commonly found in offerings and decorating tables, religious objects, and stone carvings. The roots, leaves, and flowers are sometimes used as medicine.

Description
This plant has been so highly bred and selected that there are numerous varieties and it is difficult to give a general description to fit them all. Many are single flowers but there are double varieties which look like roses.

Flowers
Red, white, or mixed; also, less commonly, yellow. Most varieties are characterized by a large five-petaled flower. The petals are typically pear-shaped, about 8 by 5 cm, prominently veined and somewhat wrinkled. The typical flower is about 13 cm across when fully opened. Petals overlap slightly at the base where they are frequently stained a contrasting color. Two concentric rings of triangular sepals are found beneath the petals. The pistil protrudes conspicuously from the flower, and ends in a five-branched stigma. The stamens grow as small appendages at the end of the pistil. The flower has no odor.

Flowering
Year-round

Balinese name: Jempiring
Indonesian name: Kaca Piring
Latin name: Gardenia florida
Family: Rubiaceae

Gardenias are found in many gardens but are not popular in hotels because they do not bloom for long. When available, they are used in offerings. The Gardenia is not to be confused with the flower called tulud nyuh by the Balinese. The latter is also white and grows on a small shrub very much like a Gardenia.

Even the leaves are similar in shape. However, the tulud nyuh flower is flat and has a small yellow center. It has an odor but is not quite as fragrant as the Gardenia. Theoretically, tulud nyuh are not supposed to be used in offerings. People who have these plants, however, generally do so anyway. The Balinese name, which is probably a corruption of the Indonesia - kaca piring - means "glass plate".

Description
This plant can grown up to 2 meters, but is usually smaller in Bali

Flowers
Are about 7 cm in diameter and have 15 to 20 white, rounded petals, up to 4 cm long and 23 cm wide. The reproductive parts are not visible until the flower ages and opens wide. In the center are 5 triangular, tan stamens is a 1.5 cm long, waxy pistil with a cleft stigma. The flowers have a pleasant fragrance. The Gardenia is a very fragile blossom, turning brown soon after being picked.

Leaves
Glossy ovals, 8 by 3 cm, dark green. They are stemless and are paired.

Benefits
This flower is a cut flower commodity, used in bouquets and corsages. The leaves can be used as a cure thrush and its roots as a cure toothache.

Fruit contains crocin (a type karotenoida), which is bright yellow as well as on saffron. Dried fruit is a coloring agent. In Japan, gardenia dye used for dyeing of textile dyes and traditional cake (wagashi) and pickled radish (Takuan).

Balinese name: Flamboyan, Merak
Indonesian name: Flamboyan, Merak
Latin name: Delonix regia
Family: Leguminosae

Flamboyant dubbed the "queen of flame" with Rose but in reality Flamboyant has many advantages compared to Rose. One of the advantages is that the age Flamboyant longer than roses. When in bloom, roses only last 2 days while Flamboyant can last up to 6 full months. At first glance it looks Flamboyant leaves resemble the leaves of the roses. There were sharp spikes seen on the branches. The function of thorns is to protect the interest of animal attack or surrounding plants. Flamboyant thorns are very sharp when people are not careful it will risk injury. While Flamboyant also leaves almost resemble leaves, but leaf size Rose appears to be more rounded than the rose leaves.

The Flamboyant is a native of Madagaskar but was distributed all over the tropics during the 19th century. The tree's wide spreading branches make it deal for shade. They are planted along many of the main roads and, where they do well, the branches form an almost closed arch.

Description
A medium tree with spreading branches and a rounded crown.

Flowers
Red, 7-8 cm in diameter, with five petals. Four petals are identical and spaced symmetrically. Each consists of a long, thin strip ending in a wavy-edged oval and is a uniform red. A fifth petal is streaked with white near the narrow strip. Below the petals are five sepals, about 2.2 cm long, red on top and green at the bottom. Ten stamens, about 4 cm long and red, protrude from the flower and terminate in mushroom-shaped, blackis anthers. The pistil is pink, about 5 cm long, and ends in a green stigma.

Leaves
Compound, consisting of small, oval leaflets occurring in pairs along the stems. They are pale green when young, darken as they mature, and eventually turn brightly yellow.

Seeds
Contained in long, dark-brown pods.

Flowering
Late in the dry season, beginning about the middle of September. Flowers are most profuse in November.

Balinese name: Biu
Indonesian name: Pisang
Latin name: Musa Sp.
Family: Musaceae

There are dozens of varieties of Bananas in Bali, most if which are far more flavorful than the rather bland plantation Banana we are accustomed to in the West. The Banana plant is not a tree, but rather, a giant herb. It produces fruit just once, then dies, leaving suckers at its base to start the next generation.

Description
The deep red to maroon blooms appear about seven to nine months after planting. The flower stalk emerges from the crown of the plant, carrying the last leaves with it.

Flowers
A large bud or “navel” develops at the tip of the stalk. As this pusuh biu (Banana navel) develops, one of the outer bracts rises to reveal a double row of 12 to 29 female flowers with short-lasting, yellowish-white petals. This bract eventually drops. As the inflorescence grows, another bract folds upwards, revealing another “hand” of female flowers. This continuous until there are 8 to 13 “hands”. These are followed by several “hands” of neuter flowers, and then a long sequence of pollen-producing male flowers.

Leaves
Young leaves are pale green and tightly rolled in cylindrical “buds” that unfurl int long, broad, dark green leaves.

Seeds
The female flower of most Banana will produce fruit without pollination. Normally, one finds merely brown specks inside the fruits, but the hard back seeds of the variety biu batu present a hazard to the unwary eater.

Flowering
Year-round

Benefits
Bananas have a very good nutrient content, such as energy supply is quite high compared with other fruits. Bananas are rich in minerals such as potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and calcium. Bananas also contain vitamins, namely C, B complex, B6, and serotonin is active as a neurotransmitter in the smooth functioning of the brain.